County News

The County 5: Special
Treatment for Themselves is Nothing New in
the Bucky Nash - Ben Scott Era

Posted July
6, 2017 06:30 am | final 04:10 pm

By Stew Lilker

COLUMBIA
COUNTY, FL – The resolution canceling
tonight's July 6 regularly scheduled County
5 meeting appeared on the June 15 consent
agenda. There was no memo from anyone with
any explanation for canceling the meeting,
which was scheduled seven months ago. Your
reporter, also a resident, asked for the
resolution to be pulled for discussion. The
request was ignored by Chairman Ronald
Williams.

Those at the meeting were witness to more
Abbott & Costello moments as the The
5, the County Manager, and the County
Attorney did a Columbia County run around to
keep from revealing which of the County 5
asked that the meeting be canceled.

Background

The County Charter, the law of the
County, calls for the County 5 to approve by
resolution, the meeting schedule for the
coming year. County records indicate that
while there was a resolution passed on
December 15, 2016, setting the year's
meeting schedule, this had not been done
since at least 2011.

During
the reign of County Manager Dale Williams,
while yearly resolutions were not passed,
the record indicates that meetings were not
canceled for the convenience of individual
commissioners, but rescheduled, which
happened in 2012 and 2013.

In 2013, the regularly scheduled meeting
fell on July 4. Rather than cancel the
meeting, The 5 took care of the County
business at the rescheduled July 2 meeting.
There was no talk of travel time or any
excuses to cancel the meeting.

Nash – Scott Reign

In 2014, the Nash – Scott reign
officially began with the last minute County
Commission meeting cancelations for junkets
and other reasons.

June 15, 2017
Meeting 'Stuff' at The 5

The June 5 meeting kicked off with
elected County Attorney Joel Foreman
presenting a laundry list of items to be
either added to the agenda or removed from
the consent agenda for discussion.

Your reporter, also a resident, asked
that the consent agenda item canceling
tonight's meeting be pulled for discussion,
telling The 5, "It shouldn't be on the
consent agenda. There is no reason why the
meeting is being canceled. I want it pulled
[for discussion]."

Chairman
Williams ignored the request and asked that
the consent agenda be approved, which it
was.

County Attorney Foreman was silent.

Twenty-Five Minutes Later
Chairman Williams Sought Legal Counsel

Twenty-five minutes later Chairman
Williams asked County Attorney Foreman, "I
have no need to pull number 2 [4] because
Mr. Lilker can discuss that in the 5 minute
comment. Am I correct?"

Mr. Foreman agreed.

Your reporter said, "I want the board to
discuss it."

The 5 had just approved canceling
tonight's July 6 meeting.

Commissioner Williams said they would
discuss it.

County Attorney Foreman, ignoring that
the cancelation of the meeting had not been
added to the discussion items, said to Com.
Williams, "You asked for a motion to approve
the agenda as amended. That's already been
taken."

Five minutes later, your reporter came to
the microphone and addressed the meeting
cancelation, "You have on the consent agenda
that you are canceling a county commission
meeting. I don't know why that's on the
consent agenda. There is no reason in the
backup why it is being canceled. When
something is on the consent agenda, all you
have to do is approve it."

Mr.
Scott told The 5: "From time to time
commissioners do come and ask staff if there
is a possibility of canceling a meeting so
they can do travel or various other things
during that week. And I was asked by a
couple of commissioners if we could cancel
that meeting and I informed them I would
have to put it on the agenda. And that is
the reason we prepared this resolution to
cancel that meeting."

Chairman Williams asked for a motion to
approve the resolution canceling the
meeting.

Your reporter said, "It was never pulled
from the consent agenda. You already passed
it."

Commissioner Williams said, "It's on the
consent agenda. You asked why. Ben explained
why. Now I have to call for a motion to
ratify his resolution [the resolution to
cancel the meeting, which was already
approved].

Your reporter asked, "Didn't we just
approve the consent agenda?"

Commissioner Williams asked for a motion
to adopt the resolution, "Is there a motion
to adopt Resolution number 2017R-16?"

Commissioner
Nash made the motion to cancel tonight's
meeting. He didn't reveal if he was one of
The 5 who asked that the meeting be
canceled.

The 2 Minute Comment

Your reporter told The 5: "The resolution
that the county commissioners are taking
off. I've never heard before of a meeting
being canceled for travel time and I've been
coming to these meetings for about 10 years,
that's the first time. I've heard for
junkets; I've heard for the FAC, but I never
heard for travel time... I'd like to know
who, which county commissioners want to
travel... I'd like to know who they are.

Epilogue

At the conclusion of your reporter's
comments the meeting was adjourned without
delay. Commissioner Nash scrambled to the
exit, as some members of the audience
snickered at the double vote on the
travel-time / meeting cancelation
resolution.

Today, as the County workers work, at
least two of Columbia County's Royal 5 are
off somewhere – traveling.